Angst over Gaza set aside as Netanyahu's critics in Israel back him over Iran

Israel's military assault on Iran has united much of the nation after a period of bitter divisions over the war in Gaza, transforming the political landscape overnight as even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's foes close ranks behind him.

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Most Israelis support using force to destroy Iran's nuclear programme, polling shows, despite retaliatory Iranian missile strikes that have killed 24 civilians and put normal life on hold.

"Netanyahu took a really difficult decision. On the topic of Iran, right now he is doing the right thing," Mr Avigdor Lieberman, a legislator and hawkish former defence minister who fell out with Mr Netanyahu and quit his government in 2018, told Reuters.

Mr Netanyahu would ultimately be judged on whether Israel succeeds in removing Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, but for now, things are going well, he said.

On a different section of the political spectrum, centrist former defence minister Benny Gantz, who walked out of Mr Netanyahu's war Cabinet a year ago over disagreements about Gaza, was similarly supportive.

"On the Iranian issue, there is no right or left. There is right or wrong. And we are right," he told broadcaster CNN.

Israel says Iran seeks to build nuclear weapons that could hit its territory, which Tehran has always denied. In six days and nights of attacks, Israel has killed senior Iranian military leaders and damaged military and nuclear sites, as well as killing at least 224 civilians, according to an Iranian toll.